Spectrums
by vermouthhh
Summary: Garrus sinks into the underbelly of Omega, adopting the name Archangel and a ruthless thirst for justice. It starts off as something to fill the hole inside him, but becomes much more than that. As he builds his squad and uproots Omegas criminal empire, he recruits a former mercenary who makes him question where the lines between good and evil blur. Garrus/OC.
1. Bait

**Bait**

A bead of sweat rolled from her brow down the length of her nose. Another followed and reached her upper lip. She hastily wiped it away with the back of her hand before gearing herself up for another charge.

Her body crackled blue with energy and she shot forth out of the shadows with a smear of light. She connected with a Blood Pack thug in a thunderous collision and sent the krogan reeling. The bastard seemed more surprised than anything. She ventured it wasn't every day he got charged by a five foot six asari–and for good reason. It was probably suicide to anyone else but her.

Thankfully, up until a few months ago, she'd made a living wiping the floor with Blood Pack lackeys. Hell, she'd made a living wiping the floor with anyone who got in Eclipses way. And despite the groups less than glamorous reputation, they spared no expense making sure their members were combat ready. She'd come to them a starving teenager on the streets of Ilium, stripping, dealing drugs, selling her body to whoever might stick something inside her and call it fucking, and they'd transformed her into a warrior. Now at one hundred and six years old she was stronger than she'd ever thought possible. Her biotics were off the charts. No one could touch her.

Taking advantage of the unbalanced krogan, she threw a shockwave at him point blank. It was enough to lift his hulking figure off the floor and send him back twenty feet into a few shipping crates scattered around Omega's filthy port. A grin rippled across her lips.

She'd had always had a penchant for toe-to-toe fighting. She'd been told time and time again that her reckless lust for close combat would dig her an early grave. But her bosses never complained. Most of the members of Eclipse were expendable. There were a select few valuable enough to be protected, and she'd never been one of them.

It really was a shitty contract, when she thought about it. They didn't give a damn about you when you were a member and following orders, but the minute you defected they had every commando out hunting for your head. Fortunately, her history made her good at dropping off the radar. She'd managed to elude her former employers for a few months and it seemed they'd given up the chase.

She allowed herself a moment to catch her breath before she struck her opposite hand to the left and lifted a vorcha up in the air. She tightened her fist, his body enrobed in biotic energy, before slamming him back to the floor with a sickening crack. There was something almost musical about the way bones broke. A sweet, satisfying sound.

Of course, she knew taking out an entire Blood Pack squad at one of Omega's most criminally active shipping ports didn't exactly qualify as laying low. But she'd been smart about it the last few weeks. Sporadic hits. Never staying too long, never making a pattern. She didn't discriminate who she took out, whether it be Blood Pack, Blue Suns or even her old employers. Her jobs were quick, clean and soft enough to elude attention. She hoped, however, that they were just loud enough to gain the attention of one.

Archangel had been making a name for himself around Omega. You know when the citizens of Omega give someone a nickname that he means business. Word on the street was that he was putting together some sort of do-gooder squad and trying to dethrone the three major players in Omega's playpen.

She had her own reasons for wanting in. None of them she was keen on explaining, for seeking atonement for years spent murdering innocents made her feel weak and unclean. But if Archangel had racked up as many enemies as she'd heard, he wouldn't be able to afford to be choosy.

Her muscles ached with sweet strain as she pulled another merc off his feet and charged the one behind him. She rolled behind cover as a parade of shots assailed the front of her yellow armor. She pressed her shoulders against the crate and panted. With deft fingers she ejected the used up thermal clip on her pistol and replaced it with a new one. She'd never been one for guns; always preferring to let her biotics do the talking. But these guys would regenerate faster than she could keep up if she wasn't careful. Her shields came back up after a few seconds and she spun out of cover to shoot a vorcha with his back to her.

When his body hit the ground, everything grew quiet. Relief washed over her as she admired the bodies. Seven in all. Blood Pack were always easier to take down going solo. They weren't as disciplined as the Blue Suns and they didn't have the high tech shit that Eclipse ran around with. All it took was a little ingenuity and a touch of fearlessness to deal with these bastards.

She stepped over the body of the vorcha and made for the deep trenches of the cargo hold so they might cover her while she left the scene. It was then she heard the soft click of a rifle behind her.

"Archangel," she purred.

A smile worked its way onto her pale blue lips as she spun on her heel and glanced up at a crate where Omega's infamous vigilante was perched. He had his sniper rifle aimed at her head. The lowlights gleamed off the black visor of his helmet. She sheathed her own pistol at her thigh and crossed her arms over her chest, clearly unfazed by target on her head.

His helmet tilted down towards the bodies, "You've been busy."

"How else was I supposed to get you to pay attention to me?"

She heard him hum a small noise of either approval or acknowledgement, she wasn't sure which, before his head straightened up.

"Do we know each other?" he asked.

She smirked.

"Not yet, but I was hoping we might change that."

He pointed his rifle at the Eclipse symbol on the chest of her armor.

"If you know my name, you probably know that I'm not in the business of getting to know mercenaries."

She looked down at her chest and scoffed.

"My credits dried up around the same time I quit Eclipse. Haven't had the chance to go out and buy anything new yet."

"You can do that?"

She shrugged, "Quit? If you're smart enough to steer clear of the bounty hunters afterwards, sure."

Archangel lowered his rifle. Even though she couldn't see his eyes she could feel them measuring her, searching her. His curiosity was nearly tangible.

"Why?"

She stiffened. She'd known the question was coming, and the memories it shoveled up were vibrant, bloody and harsh inside her head. She swallowed and locked her pale eyes on the floor.

"They gave me a job that didn't sit right with me, simple as that."

"I wasn't aware mercenaries had morals."

"And I wasn't aware vigilantes were so judgmental, _goddess_."

She pushed herself off the crate and approached the bottom of his. Under the light her skin glowed pale violet, the dark markings around her eyes, brow and cheeks inky black.

"Look, I'm not trying to get personal here," she said, "I just…I just want to do some good. And you're the only guy on Omega who is taking shit into his own hands and getting it done."

Her eyes scanned the dark shine of his visor.

"Please, let me help."

The armored figure seemed to consider for a moment. There was an agonizing few seconds of wait.

Then the rifle lowered completely. His hand pressed back into the metal roof of the crate before he pushed himself off and landed before her. The rifle went to his shoulders. Then he pulled off his helmet with one hand and extended the other.

"Garrus Vakarian."

She grinned and worked her fingers against his long talons.

"Zara Erash, at your service."

* * *

_hey guys, i know it's been a while since i've written anything! but i was playing mass effect 2 again the other day and decided i had to explore garrus during his days as archangel and who his squad might have been comprised of. and thus the idea for this fic was born!_

_thanks for reading! and feedback is always appreciated!_


	2. Bloodlines

**Bloodlines**

**GARRUS**

It really shouldn't have come as a surprise. He was a fool to have thought his squad would have been comprised only of people looking to pay it forward. Recruiting someone who wanted to atone –well, he should have only been surprised it hadn't happened sooner.

He and Zara slunk their way through Omegas vast shipping port and then out into the streets. He'd since put his helmet back on. It wasn't that he was afraid of his identity getting out. He'd come to Omega because he had nothing to lose, and didn't give a damn who knew. But the helmet had been practical, and then the namesake secondary, and Garrus found he liked the anonymity.

At a secluded transit hub, he found the skycar he'd had stripped for thermal signatures so it couldn't be traced. He preferred to move groundside more often than not but this was the only way to get to their base of operations.

And how _strange_ that sounded. Because he'd never intended to be recruiting people, or making a headquarters or even having a team at all. He'd come to Omega thirsty for what C-Sec couldn't give him, after a failed stint at training for the Spectres and reeling in the aftermath of Shepard's death. He had no plans farther than giving the thugs on Omega a taste of their own medicine. And perhaps in the back of his head he thought he might give the people of Omega something to believe in. Something to hope for. But even that was far fetched when he first arrived. All he wanted then was blood.

But just as Shepard had once demonstrated in his fight with Saren, you prove you get things done and people join up. And it seemed to have transformed overnight. Every one of his squad had lost someone to Omega's filth, and the need for vengeance made the group tightly knit and effective. They made money by taking down slavers and pirates too and the funds just kept piling up. They were a perpetual, unstoppable force on Omega before Garrus even knew what had happened.

Though things were still on his terms. No shakedowns. No civilian casualties. They weren't mercenaries, and they weren't a gang, he was always adamant about that. None of them were out for the money anyway. It was easy to operate as a well-oiled machine with the sole purpose of taking down criminals.

It was easy enough work. Once they got their positions all ironed out and enough specialists joining up, the work was practically surgical. They'd make whatever gang it was angry, hitting shipments, disrupting jobs, pissing them off just enough to make them take the bait. Then they'd charge into their killzone fully equipped with snipers, tech traps and explosives. It was almost _too_ easy sometimes.

Though, as of late he'd been concerned that some of the smarter gangs were catching on. They would hold back from coming out into the open, knowing what might await them there. He had a few ex-military who charged the frontlines when that happened, but he had yet to pick up a biotic specialist that could rip through them on the ground level.

Until now, that is.

He clambered into the drivers side of the skycar and powered it up. Zara Erash climbed in beside him and promptly put her feet up on the dash. He gave her a look over in closer quarters. She didn't look like your typical Eclipse mercenary. Very composed, very aloof and with a face that looked like it belonged on a magazine. He couldn't trust her yet. She had a smile a touch too wicked for him. But he wasn't about to look a gift merc in the mouth. And he'd seen her biotics first hand. She was an absolute menace, and he needed her.

Besides, who was he to judge whether or not someone was truly looking to make amends? Even if she was some kind of spy for Eclipse it wasn't like he and his squad couldn't handle her.

From her seat she turned her head over at him, grinning. He was pretty good at reading people. He had his days at C-Sec to thank for that. And though he was smart enough not to fully trust her yet, he also didn't foresee her being a problem. All the sensual bravado and silver tongue was covering up something heavier in her eyes. Whatever it was must have been the key to her wanting to seek him out and join up.

He pulled the car out of the hub and took to the clogged skies above the roiling cesspool that was Omega.

"I recognize your name. You helped take down Saren with that Commander Shepard guy, didn't you?"

He turned his head at her and found her smirking at him, the lights making her skin glow under the roof of the skycar. He concentrated back on the traffic and shrugged.

"Shepard did most of the heroics."

There was a beat before she spoke again, "I heard he died."

Garrus stiffened, a chill running over him. Underneath his helmet his mandibles flexed. She seemed to sense the change in him.

"Sorry," she murmured, "Were you close?"

The slow progression of skycars extended in front of them like strokes of light. He stared into the brightness, trying to let it wash out his more painful memories.

"He was a good friend," he said slowly.

Silence. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her rubbing a dinged spot on the thigh piece of her armor.

"Mercenary life hasn't given me any tact," she said then, sending a smirk over at him as he quickly averted his gaze, "Eclipse doesn't give classes on good conversation topics."

"It would certainly make fighting them more exciting. Their combat material is pretty dry."

She laughed, and it was a sweet sound. Much softer than the rest of her. For a moment, he thought he caught a glimpse of the woman who had cut ties with Eclipse and not the harsh, volatile product the years of unsavory work had produced.

"Oh come on, 'weakening their integrity' is a classic," she chuckled.

Garrus managed a soft laugh of his own, "I'm just saying they could spice it up a little."

He suddenly veered left off the clogged traffic pattern and down toward the underbelly of the bustling mecca. It grew darker. You could practically smell the unrest brewing down here.

"So how'd you end up on Omega?" she asked him, her voice quiet.

He pulled the skyscar down and through a small space between two dilapidated towers.

"How does anyone end up on Omega? I didn't have any options left and I wanted to go to the one place that didn't have any red tape to hold me back," he said.

Zara frowned, "It just seems weird a guy like you no having any options. You worked with Shepard, you helped save the Citadel. Is the government really so shitty that you ended up here?"

Garrus pulled the car low near the balcony of what, from the outside, looked to be a tower that never quite got the funding for full construction. He slowed and then turned around back, bathing the car in shadows, seeking an opening toward the bottom.

"It's worse," he murmured.

He guided the skycar into the makeshift dock and once it came to a stop, cut the power. He glanced over at Zara, watching her as she peered up through the window to get a look at the place. It wasn't much, he'd admit, but it suited them well. Tucked away from the rest of Omega, inconspicuous, and just big enough where they all weren't breathing down each other's necks all the time.

"Come on," he motioned with a tilt of his head and climbed out.

Garrus withdrew his helmet and kept it in the crook of his arm as he waited for her to join him. Then he punched a code into the door on the side wall and let her enter first, trying not to admire the fine curve of her waist in the confines of her armor. He'd once heard someone say that there was no such thing as an ugly asari. He'd had yet to disprove that theory.

"So this is where you operate out of?" she was asking as he fell into step with her.

The scaffolding of the unfinished building let in cool night air as they made their way through the halls. He let the kiss of it brush over his fringe.

"Mostly, we have a secondary base on the west side but just for convenience. This is our main base," he explained.

"I was expecting it to be more lively."

Garrus smirked, "We're not exactly a lively bunch."

And as if on cue, they cut left down the last hallway and into the main room where half of his squad sat around on crates and abandoned furniture. The room was lit modestly, well enough to see everyone. There were twelve of them now, including Zara. But there were only four of them present. He assumed the rest were out on a job.

"You brought company."

A voice drifted over from the window. Sidonis turned from gazing out at Omega's dirty expanse and zeroed his eyes on Zara. Garrus knew from experience that he too was sizing her up, taking in her armor, her stance, her eyes -and perhaps her other more aesthetically pleasing assets. Though the way Sidonis looked at those aspects were hungry. And not entirely subtle.

Garrus cleared his throat, giving him a warning glance, "This is Zara Erash. Our new biotic specialist."

Sidonis moved forward. He'd taken the wordless title of Garrus's second in command, and for good reason. He was damn good at what he did, a brilliant tactical fighter and five times more clever than he ought to be. But he still answered to Garrus. And seemed to take the hint, carefully moving his eyes back up to Zara's face as he struck a hand forward.

"Lantar Sidonis, pleased to meet you," he introduced himself.

Zara shook his hand, "Likewise."

A few of the other members started to come forward to meet the newest recruit. Sensat was the first. His explosives expert. The salarian was a few screws loose, Sidonis theorized he'd spent time with STG and whatever had happened during his stint with them had shaken him up. Not a bad guy, just a little high energy at times. He was a whiz with explosives though and invaluable.

"We're so excited to have you," he shook Zara's hand so hard Garrus worried her arm might come off, "You'll be a great addition, I just know it!"

Zara laughed, seemingly unperturbed by his eccentricity. Then she turned to Weaver. Ex-alliance, came to Omega for pretty much the same reasons that Garrus had. He was tired of the political bullshit military life was laying out for him and decided to do something different with his skill set. He was an excellent combat specialist, both in hand to hand and short range weaponry. He looked good too, tall for a human and built almost as wide as Garrus. He had tattoos all across his neck and arms and having him visible with his Claymore when they were going up against thugs was a clear message that they meant business.

They shook hands briefly before she came face to face with Vortash. He didn't offer a hand, or say anything for a moment. He tilted his head to the right, an insult as Garrus understood it.

He hadn't expected a Batarian to join his squad. But Vortash had sought them out and proved to be one of the most important members after a time. He was a tech expert, and the best Garrus had ever seen in all his days at C-Sec, fighting down Saren and afterwards. No one compared. This guy could hack any system in the galaxy with his eyes closed.

Unfortunately, all his effort seemed to go into being good at his job and there was none left for niceties. He wasn't the friendliest guy around. Didn't speak much and when he did it was usually something obscene. But he was a loyal team player and if he didn't want to make friends, then fine. That wasn't what they were all here for anyway.

Zara blinked coolly at him. Garrus wondered if her eyes would question the large scar extending from the crown of Vortashs' head to his chin. But it was almost as if she didn't notice.

"See something you like, handsome?" she asked.

Vortash stepped up closer.

"Where'd you get that armor?" he asked.

Garrus made a move to intervene. He probably should have explained her background before introducing her to everyone. But Zara beat him to it.

"I earned it doing a lot of awful things," she said evenly, "But now Eclipse wants me dead probably more than they even want you guys dead, so it's just for decoration."

Vortash looked over her head at Garrus. He nodded, quietly hoping that he wouldn't have to break them apart by force. He didn't want to lose either of them. But there was no predicting what Vortash may or may not do.

"We'll get her some new armor before we take her out on a job," he promised.

"How can we trust her?" Vortash growled.

Garrus sighed. He knew Vortash wouldn't trust something as simple as his gut feeling. Sidonis might. But these men needed more reassurance.

"She lured me out, got my attention. If she had any ties to Eclipse left I doubt they would have let her go it alone, even if it was some kind of trap," he said.

Vortash looked unconvinced.

"Besides, we can handle anything Eclipse throws at us. We've cut them down to half-strength in just the last month alone. I'm not worried about it," he continued.

Zara held up a hand. She locked eyes with Vortash, unafraid. And it wasn't everyday you got to see an asari charge a krogan one minute and stare into the eyes of the meanest batarian to ever live the next. He was growing more fond of her by the second.

"I worked with Eclipse and did what I had to, to survive. But I've lost people too," she said, "Omega has taken a lot of my friends and a lot of who I used to be before I came here."

She lowered her hand and glanced around at the small group.

"I want to kick these bastards where it hurts and make them pay for everything they've done to me, and everything they've done to people I cared about. Just like you guys."

Vortash said nothing for a long while. Then he nodded and turned, heading back for the crate where he'd been cleaning his shotgun.

Over his shoulder he murmured, "Welcome to the resistance."


	3. Resurrection

**Resurrection**

**ZARA**

A long grey curl of smoke unfurled from her lips. She crushed the end of her cigarette underneath her boot, glancing down the dark plane of her new armor as she did so. It wasn't top of the line or anything, but it would do the trick. And the glossy black on black did have its appeal. Zara felt reinvented. Sleek. Dangerous. She had shed her identity as a common thug with her Eclipse armor and now she stood as a cog in a symbol that stood for justice.

She'd only been an official member for a few days now. And this was the first job they'd landed since her recruitment. In an abandoned skycar lot in the lower city, she was leaned up against a carcass of an old car with Melenis. She liked Melenis. He was ex-turian military, a general she'd heard, and understandably a hardass. But a loveable one. He was older than a lot of the other members but no less lethal.

"That'll kill ya," he grumbled as he watched her extinguish her cigarette.

Zara laughed, "Banking on it."

She hadn't even hit two-hundred years old yet and she already felt world weary. If smoking shaved off even fifty then she'd be glad for it. The galaxy sure as hell wasn't going to get any better during her lifecycle. And it was just damn depressing to sit around with her thumbs up her ass about it all the time and watch people come and go from it freely.

She peered out into the darkness, hoping for movement. They'd been stationed out here for at least twenty minutes with no activity whatsoever. Garrus got a tip that the Blue Suns were supposedly having a meeting here tonight. And Garrus wasn't usually wrong. Her eyes lifted to the adjacent building where she knew he was positioned.

He had everyone expertly scattered around the area. He had his vantage point from above. Sidonis too on the ledge at his right. Monteague, a human and former C-Sec officer, on the one to his left. Vortash was ground level but hidden away to work his magic. Sensat probably hiding in some hole somewhere drooling over all his detonators. She, Melenis and Weaver were front liners, meant to hit the mercs hard first and scatter them so the rest of the team could take out the stragglers.

"How'd you end up with the team?" Zara leaned back a little more against the car, sending a look over at the older turian.

If it was going to be boring she might as well make conversation. Melenis gave her a side glance. Turians weren't known for being warm and fuzzy, but he at least humored her by responding most of the time. Which was more than she could say for Vortash. He still hadn't warmed up to her. Garrus assured her he was like that with everyone, but not everyone was a former mercenary. Vortash didn't like her and he sure as hell didn't trust her. Not that it mattered. She wasn't here to be buddy buddy with everyone.

"I got myself in over my head," Melenis admitted, checking the clip on his pistol, "I ran into a Blood Pack operation by accident and figured I'd try and take out as many as I could before they gunned me down. Garrus pulled my ass out of there before they could and I signed up that night."

Zara nodded. She wanted to ask what might make a distinguished former general ready to throw his life away on Omega, but didn't want to pry. The group had been gracious with her so far about not asking her, her own personal history. She wanted to return the favor. Though it seemed kind of like a wordless agreement on everyone's part. No one asked the tough questions. No one –save Rorek apparently- _cared_ where you came from before this. They lived in the present and operated for one objective. At the end of the day, that was what mattered.

"What do you know about Garrus?" she asked instead, gesturing her head up at the building where he was stationed.

Melenis shrugged, "I can see why he left C-Sec. He's too idealistic for the Citadel. Thinks he can save everyone. But he's a good kid. He doesn't lack for initiative, I'll give him that."

She wasn't even sure why she was asking. She trusted Garrus to lead them and that should have been all there was to it. But her curiosity increased tenfold for him. He had such a rich history that everyone on the team already knew, and just didn't talk about. He was a _hero_. He'd cut down geth, worked with a legend, saved the Citadel –and yet here he was, running this rag tag group on a crusade against Omegas criminal empire. He was more complex than he let anyone else believe. And in more pain than he let on.

She'd worked as a hooker long enough to be able to spot broken people. And sure, they were all broken to some degree, but he was on a deeper level. Greif alone had not turned him down this path, like some of the others. And some part of her wanted to fix him. As stupid as that sounded. People who joined teams like these, people who _formed_ teams like these, were broken beyond repair. Her own pieces were jagged and fractured enough, goddess save anyone she tried to fix.

Thankfully, before she could think any further, there was movement on the field. The light was just enough she could see blue armor winking in the dusk.

"Contact," Melenis murmured, pushing himself off the car and checking his pistol once more.

"About fuckin' time."

Her body charged blue. She waited as the group massed in the center of the killzone, her breath whispering through her lungs. Garrus crackled through on her earpiece, his voice a dual-toned purr.

"_You know what to do."_

She shot from her position at the car into the group like she'd been fired from a gun. Her body pulsed blue and violet as she charged headlong into a batarian. Zara took a moment to admire his body as it flew back through the air, sailing so far it almost landed at the base of the building that Garrus was perched atop.

She let out a cry and let a burst of biotic energy explode from her core, knocking back at least seven that were standing too close. Melenis was hot on her heels, throwing a singularity at a small cluster while Weaver fired at them. Zara spun around them. She flipped over and threw her entire body into a shockwave. The reverberations knocked back three bodies. Garrus took them out before they even had time to pick themselves up. All headshots. Zara smirked and gave a two fingered salute up to his position before charging another group, her body a blue streak against Omega's blood dusty air.

The next time she took a breath, it was to watch as one of Sensat's mines went off and triggered a domino effect. He took out at least twelve mercs in about eight seconds, and the thunderous explosion was enough to catch some of the others off guard long enough for the snipers to pick them off.

Vortash took out nine with a cryo grenade. He mixed an overload beautifully with the frozen statues so they burst in a satisfying array of ice shards and crackling blue energy. Zara slammed her fist into the ground, a wave of biotics cracking the ground and losing the footing of a few more. And before she knew it, she was _laughing_.

Full blown, uncontrollable laughter. She couldn't _help_ herself, it was just all so easy. She hadn't had this much fun in years. Nothing had ever been so effortless or exhilarating. Even when she was with Eclipse they were never this organized. And most of the time they were shaking down people who didn't deserve it. There was no satisfaction in those jobs. Not like this. This felt sweet. This felt _right_. Zara practically felt indulgent with sweat dripping down the back of her new armor, reveling in the sounds of well timed explosions and gunfire.

This was beautiful. There was no other word to describe it. This team was unstoppable, disciplined, surgical and the first breath of fresh air Omega had received in some time. And she was a part of it. For half a second, she almost forgot what had brought her here. And all the innocent blood she still had on her hands.

It wasn't hard to remember. The memories came back and singed her. She faltered a step and missed a throw. The ball of biotic energy skimmed past a merc and he lined up a shot at her chest, seeing his window of opportunity. She bared her teeth and ran full force at him.

He suddenly became the center point of all evil in the galaxy. She felt his shots ripping away at her shields as she launched herself over him and sent a charged fist point blank into his face. His body skidded out from under her. Her fury made her chest heave.

She'd seen so much death. Lost so many loved ones. She'd lost herself somewhere along the way too. Because it was easier just to turn yourself off when you were asked to kill innocent people and lie to everyone you met. It was easier to tuck pieces of yourself away and forget them. That was the only way she'd survived so long. But there wasn't a day that she didn't remember being forced to shut herself off. And the injustice of that alone was enough to boil her blood.

Panting, she straightened up and realized the fight was over. Melenis looked over at her and tilted his head in question. She lifted her hand to signal she was okay. And she was. Staring over a body that actually deserved to die, she was more than okay. It was as if she'd just unlocked one of those places inside herself that she'd put away.

She felt alive. Drenched in sweat, her biotics pressed to near breaking, the smell of smoke and blood rich in the air, and the sweet relief of atonement rushing through her body. Every righteous kill she made was another step closer to being able to sleep at night. She turned around, a grin on her dark mouth.

She struck her arms in the air at the rest of the team and laughed freely.

"Hell yeah!"


	4. Redemption

**Redemption**

**GARRUS**

He stood by the window, his arm resting on the glass over his head. The city was dark below him. Panting with unrest, full of screams and blood that shouldn't have been spilled. His team had done good work tonight, but it didn't feel like enough. Pissing off the different merc bands was tedious work. They couldn't go too big this soon or they risked unraveling all the work they'd put in thus far. But getting under the skin of the various gangs was slow work. Disrupting meetings. Diverting shipments. Just keeping them on their toes, in simplest terms. It would lure them out eventually, Garrus knew. But the downtime was unbearable.

Though, he couldn't be too upset. They'd performed remarkably well tonight. Near perfect execution, and now that they had a well rounded team it made it even easier. Zara had proved to be all he'd said she'd be. And a few of the members she hadn't won over her first night were shaking her hand afterwards. Sensat pratically tripped over himself raving about her. _You were amazing, Zara! I couldn't even follow you, you were just there one second and not the next and BAM just a blue light and BAM again! That was beautiful!_ Even Weaver had something to say, and Garrus had never heard the guy give a compliment in all the time he'd known him. _Nice work, Erash. Good to have you aboard. _

Vortash still wasn't convinced, but Garrus wasn't worried. Even if he didn't trust her, he had to be able to see her value in combat. And right now that outweighed any potential ulterior motives she might have had. Though he was still skeptical on that part. Zara Erash didn't fight like she had another agenda. She'd ripped through those Blue Suns thugs full tilt. Fighting with nothing held back, laughing as she did so, pulsing blue and grinning like a woman with nothing to lose.

They were back at the base now, and the rest of the team had joined them. They'd just come back from messing with an Eclipse shipment and had apparently been very successful. The twelve of them crowded the half-finished tower. He could hear muffled laughter a few rooms over. The clinking of glasses. Most of them were celebrating a job well done. But Garrus was too restless to join them. He wanted to keep working. Keep killing, keep progressing towards the end result. He refused to believe his body was incapable of running without rest or food. He wanted to be a machine. Just fight back against Omega's darkness tirelessly until it was completely eradicated. The numbness that came with each job was like a drug to him. Downtime let him think too much.

Something moved from his right. He turned his head, pushing himself off the window a bit, and came face to face with Zara Erash. She was certainly a change from the rest of the faces that made up his squad. Most of them were mean and scarred, ugly as all hell and hardened. Zara was quite the opposite. Her face was lean and clear. Her markings were dark around her eyes and the corners of her mouth and created an arc like stars around her crest. Her lips were full, eyes sleek and skin dual parts silken and impenetrable.

And the way she smiled at him, that slight tilt to her mouth –he'd admit to being a little uneasy in her presence. Scarred ex-military were one thing. Beautiful women were another.

"You've got this whole sexy brooding thing going on over here," she commented easily, leaning up against the window so she was facing him, "You look way too serious for a job well done."

He cleared his throat. He chose to ignore the sexy comment, for that was an adjective so far removed from him he barely had it in his vocabulary. And for the fact that he often found himself tongue tied around women like Zara, and had no game whatsoever. He gestured to the window and the dark picture of Omega outside.

"Just admiring the view," he said.

Zara snorted, following his eyes and looking out at the smog filled expanse too.

"Not much of one," she said.

The two of them were silent for a moment. He stared out into his dark city, watching his own demons stare him right back. He wondered how many demons Zara saw in the cluttered mecca below them.

"So you know how I ended up on Omega, but I never got the chance to ask you," he said, wondering why he was asking.

He didn't make it a point to know his squad's personal history. Most of them had families back home. Some of them were probably using aliases. Garrus never pressed the issue, as long as they were loyal to him and worked for the common goal he didn't much care who they were outside the team. But Zara was a special circumstance. Her history before joining was fairly unorthodox.

Though he wouldn't deny his curiosity was more selfish than anything. He wanted to know more about her just for the sake of knowing. He'd never met anyone like her before. Someone who'd probably seen more death and destruction in her life than he ever would. Someone who tucked her demons away just like he had, and put on a mask to keep anyone from asking about them too. His mask was an alias. A tight lipped professionalism. Hers was all bravado and sensual appeal. But underneath, what were they really?

He watched her tear her eyes away from Omega to look at him. Her lean shoulders shrugged a bit in her dark armor.

"I was already with Eclipse back on Ilium. My unit moved over here to handle shipping tainted eezo when they started needing more manpower to handle the goods," she said.

"And how'd you end up with Eclipse?" he asked.

He couldn't help but feel like she'd been given the short end of the stick in life. Zara had a face and a presence that belonged somewhere other than mercenary work. She might have made a great business woman, or a government official, or something more fulfilling. Something that might have let her sleep at night, or make a family. But she laughed when he asked, as if her history was all it was supposed to be.

"A lot of young asari on Ilium with no money start stripping. I followed the trend, and then stripping wasn't paying the bills so I started having sex for money too. And that line of work is only bearable with a lot of chemicals pumped in your system so by the time I was seventy I was hooked on red sand," she explained, her finger starting to draw invisible patterns on the window, "One of my clients ran with Eclipse and he said he could get me in if I wanted. I was broke from the drugs and pretty damn pathetic otherwise at that point so Eclipse sounded pretty good. Money, training, expensive equipment? And all I had to do was kill someone to get a uniform."

She laughed bitterly. Garrus watched as her armor seemed to unfurl from her, showing an angry woman who had been wronged underneath. But she was stronger than most. She made no apologies for her life before this. That was something he could admire. Turian values were similar.

"You haven't had the easiest life," he commented, unsure of what else to say.

Her eyes stared straight out the window.

"I did what I had to, to survive," she said, "I didn't like killing but I didn't like the idea of dying before I hit ninety either."

She turned back to him and reached forward, brushing a what looked like a spec of dry blood off his armor. His mandibles flexed in response. He felt as though he'd been burned through his hardsuit.

"I did a lot of really shitty things to get by," she said and then flickered a smile at him, "But that's why I'm here now. I'm ready to try and make up for that. And you've got my golden ticket to redemption."

He couldn't stop himself from asking, "You really think it'll all even out?"

She didn't seem perturbed by his asking. She shook her head.

"Not even a little."

Someone broke a glass in the next room and a chorus of laughter followed. Zara turned her head over her shoulder, smirking a little. Then she looked back at Garrus.

"But doing the right thing, protecting innocents, taking out the bad guys -it'll help me move on."

_Move on_. The words hit low, diving straight through his chest and cracking open against his insides. He felt the weight of it bleeding through him and was struck by how similar they were. They'd come from completely different places. And yet here, standing by the window of a broken city, they longed for the same things. An impossible, unreachable peace after lives spent fighting.

"I'm glad you're here," he said suddenly.

He surprised himself, and seemed to surprise Zara as well. Her eyes widened a little and a grin touched her dark mouth. As if she'd caught him looking at Fornax in the bathroom or something.

"Are you?" she asked slyly, and Garrus tried to brace himself for whatever was about to come out of her mouth next.

Thankfully, a rough voice saved him.

"_Erash! Get over here and take a shot, rookie!" _

The two of them turned from the window to see Butler. Human, mid-thirties with a shock of blond hair. He used to be a security consultant here on Omega before he got sick of playing by the rules. Garrus had met his wife when he recruited him. Nalah. Sweet woman, even sweeter for letting her husband go off with Garrus and understanding his reasoning.

"We'll talk later," Zara promised him, her hand drifting across his shoulder as she peeled herself from the window and made her way over to the small group drinking around the table.

Garrus watched her go. Butler slapped a hand on her shoulder and lead her over to the group that chorused with praise as she arrived. He turned back to the window. Omega churned under him with Zara's voice in his head.

_Move on. _

He wondered if she believed it.


	5. Spectrum

**Spectrum**

**ZARA: SEVEN MONTHS EARLIER**

Too late. Too slow. Too careless. She placed a hand in the middle of Teelia's chest and hot, dark blood rushed up to meet her palm. She'd looked away for a second. A _second_. But it had been a second too long. Long enough for the bastards to take down her shields and shoot her point blank like an animal.

Zara had made quick work of them after that. Fucking slavers, this was supposed to have been a routine pick up. But the batarian bastards didn't think they were getting paid enough, and neither did her boss, and the scuffle that ensued turned bloody. The group she'd brought with her were more than enough to handle the slavers. Eclipse had no lack for bodies. But it wasn't like they were _supposed_ to be cannon fodder.

"Come on, stay with me, stay with me," she panted over Teelia. Goddess, she was only forty-two. She didn't deserve to die like this. Zara was never fond of cultivating relationships in the gang. Shit got messy when you started caring what happened to everyone else. But Teelia had snuck up on her.

She reminded Zara of herself, in a lot of ways. Fresh off the streets and desperate, she'd joined Eclipse to get enough money to fill her belly three nights a week. Zara had unintentionally taken her under her wing. This was the girl who had vomited everywhere after making her first kill. Zara had promised not to tell. Somehow she'd managed to make a little sister out of her. Someone who made the work bearable, someone she felt _protective _over.

All the good it had done her. Teelia's dark mouth opened and closed around words that were choked off by blood. Zara tried pumping her system with medi-gel to no avail. The blood kept coming. Pulsing dark lavender against her hands, wetting both of their yellow armor.

"Zara, leave her."

A voice crept impatiently over her shoulder. Adamus, one of her least favorite humans to date. The guy was a real creep. When he wasn't staring at her tits he was usually making some lewd comment about them. She'd broken his nose twice. And he had yet to get the hint.

"Fuck off," she spat over her shoulder, "She's gonna be fine."

But at that exact moment, Teelia's body jerked under her. A wretched gargling sound withered from her throat and then her eyes went still in her face. Zara felt the breath leave her. And a tiny piece of herself left too. Parts of herself she'd gotten so good at numbing had started to just break off these days. Dry and tired from her negligence, they splintered and fell away from her. It was easier that way. Being numb was freeing.

But there were always times that turning everything off just didn't cut it. This happened to be one of them. With blood soaked hands she cupped Teelia's face. She lowered her head down to the other woman's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Tee."

"Let's go, Zara. Before their friends show up," Adamus prompted her.

She nodded and picked herself up. Whatever pain her face might have shown to Teelia's dead eyes vanished as she stood. She was empty once more, switching all the right buttons to power down and stop feeling. Her face hardened as she nodded her head at Adamus and signaled the rest of her squad to loot the bodies before leaving.

She and Adamus walked side by side. Zara ground her teeth together.

"I'm sick of losing people," she murmured.

"Part of the game, babe," Adamus shrugged, "Tee wasn't gonna last long anyway. Some people aren't cut out for this gig."

She laughed harshly at him.

"The majority aren't. Only bad people are cut out for this shit," she said, lighting a cigarette while one of the rookies brought the skycar over.

Teelia wasn't bad. And there was her only flaw. She'd seen a lot of shit in her forty years and she hadn't let it compromise who she was. She'd kept her soul intact and her emotions nurtured and ultimately that was what killed her.

Zara didn't have that kind of strength. She'd let herself go bad and rotten to the core. She let her will to survive change her. But she'd survived. She was the one smoking a cigarette at the end of a job with someone else's blood all over her armor.

She was always the one with other peoples blood all over her. And no matter how hard she scrubbed there was no getting that kind of stain off. It had sunk deep into her very essence and every time she looked in the mirror she saw the colorful array of all the blood she'd ever spilled in the name of survival.

If she had a life worth living, it might have justified it.

Or maybe it wouldn't. She promised herself she'd never find out. Zara Erash would remain the woman with a spectrum of blood on her hands and never bleed a single drop herself.

All in the name of survival. Here here.


	6. Honeypot

**Honeypot**

**GARRUS**

"Jaruut sent us."

The turian bouncer nodded and hit the door control with the back of his fist. Garrus entered first, squinting at the hot lights in the center of Afterlife's VIP section. Sidonis followed on his right, Zara on his left and Grundan Krul behind them. Having some krogan muscle never hurt on a job like this.

Not that he intended to engage in any firefights tonight. None of them had any armor on as it was and were only equipped with weapons they could get away with concealing. They were here for intel, not blood.

"Ah, memories," Zara trilled beside him, grinning as she was set alight with a pulsing neon glow.

"Spend a lot of time here?" Sidonis asked as they moved through the crowd.

It was almost impossible to hear them over the pounding music. Garrus was never one for clubs. The lights were too bright, the music too loud and everyone was too drunk. And it was hard enough to talk to women when he could hear himself think, so there was no appeal in that either.

But this was where their contact said it was safe to meet, so he was just going to have to suck it up.

"I used to," Zara replied, edging seamlessly around a dancing couple as if her body was made of water.

Looked it, too. It was almost strange to see everyone without their armor, but her especially. She was entirely transformed in a crimson dress that was slashed down to her hips, exposing the long path of her waist and abdomen. He'd seen her rip apart mercenaries with her bare hands and spit blood that wasn't her own out of her mouth long enough to smile at him on the battlefield. But here she was elegant and sensual. She spilled against the crowd and sunk in like she belonged here.

"Eclipse used this place as a fence for a long time," she said in a lower voice, close enough to the group so they could actually hear.

"Why'd they stop?" Garrus asked.

Zara smirked, "Probably because guys like our little informant started popping up everywhere. They got skittish and stopped dealing here."

"Good news for us," Sidonis said.

Garrus gazed up at the dancers in passing, wondering if any of them might turn into something like Zara Erash someday. Then he focused on the bar ahead of them. He nodded his head.

"Come on."

Zara leaned up against the counter first. Garrus came to stand next to her. Sidonis covered his six and Krul covered Zara's. The bartender was a salarian and pleasant enough as he moved to greet them.

"What'll it be?" he asked.

Garrus leaned a little closer, "I was told to meet Ruplor here."

The salarian's eyes widened a fraction before he gave a quick, staccato nod.

"Wait here."

He disappeared behind the massive shelves, stocked to each edge with glowing bottles and tall swirling glasses. Garrus leaned back from the counter and looked to Zara. She winked at him without expression. Then she looked like she was about to say something when a human hand appeared around her bare waist.

The owner of said hand was a drunk young man. Maybe drunk was sugarcoating it. Plastered was more appropriate. It was a miracle he was standing. He sidled up to Zara and leaned close to her as she turned in his grip. Garrus heard him sniff her and groan with desire.

"How much will a hundred credits get me, sweetheart?" he slurred by her neck.

Garrus instinctively reached for his pistol that was tucked in his tunic. He caught himself before he could. Shooting some poor drunken bastard in the middle of a crowded club would blow their cover.

Though he needn't have worried. Zara said nothing. She merely turned, checked the guys shoulder to bend him forward and then slammed his face against the counter. His unconscious body slid to the floor beside her and she resumed her position as if nothing had happened. Garrus blinked.

"Heh," Grundan Krul piped up for the first time that night, "I like her."

Zara turned her head over her shoulder with a smirk, "Aww, I like you too, big guy."

Sidonis gave an approving chuckle from behind them. Garrus couldn't help but smile. He was glad for the team warming up to her. Most of them, save Vortash, had welcomed her in full over the last few weeks. On the whole, the group had come to trust her. And she'd earned it. Her combat skills were exemplary and she was a damn good team player.

And a valuable resource. She knew how Eclipse operated. Garrus had the Blue Suns at the top of his list, but Zara had made getting under Eclipse's skin near effortless. She knew popular dealing spots, secret bases and shipment signatures. With her help, they'd crippled the gang over the last few weeks and were getting closer to Jaroth by the minute.

Garrus didn't know how Vortash was able to remain so distrustful of her. If she had any allegiance left to her former employers, she sure had an odd way of showing it.

"Ruplor will meet you at that table in the corner."

The salarian's return surprised him, and he realized he'd been staring at Zara's profile for longer than he intended. He averted his eyes to the table instead, nodding his thanks. The salarian moved down the length of the bar. Garrus tapped his talons against the counter and then left it. The floor pulsed under his feet with the music. Sidonis and Krul followed him and Zara to the back where the bass seemed muffled and the lights didn't scorch his eyes as badly.

Krul stopped to stand watch at the edge of the roped off back area. The rest of them made their way to the table and sat down. Sidonis looked back to the main floor and the bar.

"Can we trust this guy?" he asked.

"He gave us a solid tip last month," Garrus said, placing his elbows on the table, "We would have never been able to get to that Blue Suns hideout otherwise."

"He just rubs me the wrong way."

Garrus deepened his gaze into the grungy surface of the table. Sidonis wasn't wrong. Ruplor was a shady batarian if he ever saw one. He insisted he swore allegiance to no gangs in Omega, but Garrus had to wonder at his motives.

Though, he'd built a team off of taking people at their word. So if Ruplor wanted to sell information that would help them take down either the Blue Suns or Eclipse, then Garrus would keep paying him for it.

But it was always good to not invest too much into one source, should it ever backfire.

"He doesn't know anything about us," Garrus reminded him, "Or what we do, or where we operate. We keep him at an arm's length, we'll be fine."

"If you say so," Sidonis said.

"Don't look now," Zara suddenly murmured under her breath.

Garrus followed her eyes and found Ruplor approaching. He was small for a batarian with a scrawny chest and long arms. He folded himself into the seat opposite the three of them and nodded his head with a smile.

"Nice to see you again," he said and then looked at Zara, "A pretty new face, too."

Zara extended a hand.

"Aela T'Folti," she purred as Ruplor reached and shook it.

"A pleasure," he said and then gestured a hand back, "Saw you take out that guy at the bar. You are a formidable woman, Miss T'Folti."

Garrus stiffened. He didn't like the idea of Ruplor having eyes on them when Garrus didn't have eyes on _him_. Sidonis seemed to catch the hidden meaning in his words as well and slid a glance over at Garrus.

"A hungry one too," she murmured and leaned against the edge of the table, smiling.

Zara had assured them that she was a whiz at getting intel sans any messiness. Garrus had been skeptical at first. He preferred to go in and do the deal cut and dry. Get the info, transfer the credits, leave it as bare boned as possible. But considering Ruplor's subtle jab about watching them without them knowing, he was glad for her influence.

For Ruplor's face had lost its mischievous quality. His pinched mouth hung open a little as he stared at Zara. He adjusted the collar of his shirt. Garrus used to interrogate criminals for a living. He could tell when someone was nervous. Though, this was hardly fear. This was texbook lust at its grimiest.

"For what, I can only imagine," Ruplor gulped.

Zara slid back and made a show of crossing her long legs underneath her dress.

"Information, mostly," she said, "I'm a woman of simple tastes."

Ruplor was transfixed. And out of the corner of his eye, Garrus noted Sidonis trying not to smile. Their informant was putty in their hands. Zara wasn't lying when she said she was good at this.

The batarian nodded, "Well I happen to be in an excess of information, provided you can…erm…_pay_."

Zara flashed her eyes back at him. Garrus wondered if people who hadn't seen her in action could detect the fire of a killer under that velvet gaze. To Ruplor she might just look like some asari temptress. But Garrus knew a predator when he saw one. She might as well have been flicking a tail behind her and growing fangs while they spoke. And damned if it wasn't an exhilarating thing to watch unfold.

"Mmm," Zara hummed and inclined her head towards Garrus.

He pulled up his omni-tool, the orange glow of it painting them all. He rifled through the different security channels of the squad's private account and readied them for transfer. Ruplor pulled up his own omni-tool.

"I believe this is the amount we agreed upon," Garrus said as the credits passed over.

"Yes, yes that all looks to be in order," Ruplor said.

Zara gave him a vulpine smile when he looked up again. In the glow of the dual omni-tools her eyes looked as if they were on fire.

"Excellent," she said and leaned her elbows up against the table again, "Your turn."

Ruplor cleared his throat and his omni-tool vanished. He scooted his chair forward. All four of them pressed their heads closer together, creating a small circle where their voices couldn't be monitored. Not that anyone could hear them over the music anyway.

"Eclipse is planning a _big_ shipment next week," he whispered.

"How big are we talking?" Garrus asked.

"Bigger than anything they've pulled in the last four months," Ruplor continued, "They've been planning this one for a while. The cargo is coming over from Ilium and they're putting their best operatives on the job to make sure everything goes off without a hitch."

"Where?" Sidonis asked.

"Doru District."

Garrus frowned. That was unusual for Eclipse. Zara seemed perturbed by it too.

"That's weird," she muttered, "I'm surprised they're not doing it through their usual ports."

Ruplor shrugged, "You guys have got Jaroth running scared. No one's seen him out in weeks. He sends all his best guys to do the dirty work because he's nervous about the hit put out on him. I guess he's switching it up to keep you on your toes."

Zara stiffened at the name. The seduction burned up on her skin and steel replaced it.

"How many guys?" Garrus asked, eager to get this over with. He didn't like being out in the open for longer than he had to be.

They'd already switched over to the secondary base. Two weeks ago Sensat thought he saw a scout in a skycar near the windows of the abandoned tower they'd thought was well protected. Garrus wasn't too broken up about it. The building in the Kima District was more tactically sound than the tower anyway. And it kept them closer to the heart of Omega, and therefore closer to the gangs.

That was a double edged sword, though. The tower had been remoteness and hidden away. And though the base in the Kima District was well hidden away, they had to be careful where they were seen and how they traveled now. All it took was one tail to follow them back and their cover was blown.

"Hard to say," Ruplor answered, "From the sounds of it, it's nothing you guys can't handle. They don't want to draw too much attention with an army or anything like that."

"Good," Garrus said, "Anything else?"

Ruplor shook his head, "That's all I have. I'm sending the coordinates and the time to your omni-tool."

The orange light flashed again and Garrus watched the data filter. His security systems scrubbed it for bugs before downloading. If this intel was as good it seemed, then this would be the biggest job he and his team would attempt thus far. It was a good stepping stone on the way to Jaroth, and having it in his omni-tool felt powerful. There was an almost palpable heat to the information and it slid up his arm and into his chest, kindling and eager fire there. Garrus stood.

"Thanks for the information," he said.

Ruplor stood too and they shook hands briefly. Sidonis followed suit and then Zara, though Ruplor kissed her knuckles when she extended her hand. He could feel the revulsion rippling off her and tried not to laugh. She played it off well though, smacking on a smile and murmuring in his ear as they left. "Pleasure doing business with you."

When they were well away from the main floor of the club and heading for the exit, Zara finally broke the act. She shuddered and brushed her hands down the front of her stomach and dress as Grundan Krul joined them again.

"That's the last fucking time I'm the honeypot," she snapped.

"I thought he was going to propose," Sidonis cracked.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Next time I'm putting _you_ in a dress and you can take an ass grab for the team."

Garrus chuckled, hard as he tried not to. Zara narrowed her eyes at him, though the shape of her mouth was almost playful.

"You like that, huh?" she asked, grin widening, "Maybe we'll put you in a dress too."

Krul spoke up, "I'd pay to see that."

The exited the club and the doors whisked closed behind them. Garrus sighed, thankful for the quiet of the back streets.

"I don't have the hips for it," he said in a dry voice.

And though he was enjoying the quiet, the sound of Zara's loud laughter in the wake of his words was just as pleasant.


	7. Youth

**Youth**

**ZARA: FOUR MONTHS EARLIER**

As a rule, Zara tried to turn a blind eye to the slave trade on Omega whenever possible. She'd killed a lot of people in her time as a mercenary. Stolen a lot of goods, credits and smuggled everything from drugs to weapons to security mechs. But smuggling and selling people? It always rubbed her the wrong way.

Which was annoying, considering how often she had to do it. She'd managed to successfully numb herself to every other aspect of the job, but slave trading still made her skin crawl. But there wasn't anything she could do about it. It was part of the job.

But the sooner this was over, the happier she would be. She squinted into the lights of the approaching skycar, holding her hand over her eyes. It parked beside her own and hissed as it powered down. Zara unlatched her pistol from the holster on her thigh. For this pick up she was the hauler, and not the security. But it never hurt to have something lethal in your hands when dealing with slavers. Never know what they were going to do. Mercenaries were at least predictable. Slavers were all wild cards.

The batarian that stepped out of the car waved his hand in greeting. She sized him up with pale eyes. He didn't look hostile. He came around the front of the car and met her in the shadows.

"Hey," he said, holding out a hand.

A polite batarian? By the fucking goddess.

"Skip the formalities," she glared at his hand and then up to his four black eyes, "You have the cargo?"

He soured to her immediately. She felt his gaze on her pistol. But his head gestured back to his car.

"In the back," he said, "You got the credits?"

Zara pulled up her omni-tool, "Am I your first stop?"

He nodded, "First one tonight. The rest we'll do over the week. The cargo is going to the buyer as one package but we had to split it all up to make it less conspicuous."

Zara had heard about that. The "cargo" he was talking about happened to be a group of six people. For some reason –and goddess knew she didn't want to know why- the buyer had specifically asked for them to come as one package or there was no deal. It was too risky to do that kind of drop with that big a group of course. Splitting up the pick ups and drop offs had to be Jaroth's idea. Slavers weren't usually smart enough for that kind of planning.

"Here, I've got them," Zara said as the credits came up on her omni-tool.

The batarian pulled up his own. With her opposite hand she waved her pistol in the direction of his car.

"Ah, ah, buddy. Show me the goods first. C'mon, you know how this works."

The batarian grumbled and she caught something about _"asari bitch"_ in the middle of it. But he went walking back to the car anyway, punching the lock for the door.

"Bite me," she responded in a cool voice.

But then her attention was diverted to the skycar as the hood peeled back and the side door opened. She wasn't sure what she expected to see. A lot of the times the slaves were human women from ransacked colonies. Occasionally they were asari, and on a few rare instances she'd picked up turians. But she knew something was wrong before the light even hit the interior of the car. The space inside was too dark. Something very small hid within the shadows. Too small to be something of standard shipment.

The little boy emerged from the car, scooting out on his butt and dropping to the pavement on little sneakers. Zara wasn't an expert on the human lifespan but this one was _little_. Probably just started walking, little. He had big brown eyes, rosy cheeks and a mess of dark, velvety curls.

Zara swallowed hard. This was wrong. This grated against even _her_ dirty, drowned and gritty moral standards. She glanced up at the batarian, her pistol lowering to her side. She holstered it. The soft click sounded like a gunshot in the quiet.

"Him?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

The slaver nodded. He pointed at her for the little boy, "You're going with her now."

Dutifully, the child waddled over to her and came to a stop in front of her. He barely reached her knees. He craned his head up at her, dark curls splaying across his forehead and then reached up for her hand. His chubby fingers wrapped around hers and squeezed.

"You gonna pay me or just stand there?" the batarian snapped after a moment of her stunned silence.

Fury swept up in her, a heavy spark in her heart that started to twist and roil.

"I could kill you," she said, her eyes suddenly flickering blue and her skin starting to crackle.

"Bet your boss wouldn't be happy about that."

Well, he wasn't wrong. Zara held out her omni-tool for him, letting him transfer the code to his own.

"Tell Jaroth we'll do the next drop off two days from now," he said as he made his way back to the car.

"Go fuck yourself," she spat, only realizing afterwards it probably wasn't good to swear around a kid.

Then again, swearing would be the least of this little guys worries. Whoever he was being sold to probably had a lot worse in store for him. The thought sent a stab of fear through her. A shiver of disgust followed as she watched the skycar take to the air, leaving her and the kid in its foul, smog-filled wake.

It took her a moment to look back down at the boy. And just as she feared, he was staring up at her with those big, sweet eyes. He even gave her a shy smile. He was so beautiful and sweet it made her ache. It was like all the lost innocence in the galaxy was coiled up inside of him.

She would have liked to have kids someday. Sure, she was still young, but the outlook was fairly bleak. Mercenaries didn't often have families. Most of them didn't live long enough to even try.

But she wondered for just a second what it might be like to have a little one of her own. Rosy cheeked, with big, trusting eyes and those little fingers wrapped around hers. No. _No_. She didn't deserve to have those thoughts. Not when she was about to deliver this one into the hands of someone who had _bought_ him and meant to do him harm. Goddess, what kind of person had she become?

She was black and dirty to the core. And yet this little boy saw none of it. He trusted her enough to keep holding her hand even as she took the skycar off the rooftop and into the flow of traffic. He made soft babbling noises and hummed a song, like nothing had ever been wrong with the world. And everytime she looked over at him in the seat beside her, he smiled.

He didn't have a clue.


	8. Fire In The Courtyard

**Fire In The Courtyard**

**GARRUS**

The base was quiet. Throughout the day the group had dwindled. Everyone had things to attend to outside the team of in some form or another. Butler was visiting his wife, Weaver attending to some unfinished business with a contact and so on. Even Sensat had slipped away in the afternoon, murmuring something about buying more materials for his bombs.

Melenis, Ripper and Grundan Krul were the only ones left at the base besides Garrus. You couldn't have picked a livelier bunch. The louder personalities were sorely missed within the empty walls. Sensat's high energy, Weaver's booming voice , Monteague's jokes, Zara's laughter.

The ones left were all fairly quiet. The base was so silent, in fact, that when his visor pinged he almost jumped out of his skin. He stood from the table where he'd been pouring over shipping manifests and touched at the controls.

"Hello?"

"_Hey boss."_

Zara's voice came in crisp and clear. She'd been out all day too, though Garrus couldn't remember if she'd said why.

"Erash, you okay?" he asked.

Usually he only got calls like this when something was wrong. For a moment, he questioned the gut reaction of concern that welled up in him. Zara could take care of herself. Why was he suddenly worried for her?

"_Fine, I'm fine,"_ she settled the feeling in him anyway, _"I just have something I could use your help with."_

Garrus strode to the edge of the balcony that looked over the bridge, "Sure. What've you got?"

"_When I was out today I saw this skycar I thought I recognized. On a hunch I tailed it and turns out I was right about thinking I knew who was in it."_

"Who was it?" Garrus asked.

"_This human I used to work with. Adamus. He's small fry like I was but acted like he owned Omega," _she sighed, _"He's just an asshole and I want to take him out."_

Garrus smirked. He'd never say no to spilling merc blood. He'd been growing restless as of late, waiting for the night when Eclipse was to implement their supposed biggest shipment in the Doru District. Everything else just felt like a waiting game. Garrus had been going through the motions for days with no leads to keep his trigger finger busy.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked, already headed for his armor in the opposite room.

"_There are only four guys but you know how paranoid Jaroth is these days. They've probably got security setting a perimeter. I could use someone covering my six," _he heard a smile work its way into her voice, _ "And I know how much you like shooting mercs."_

Garrus was sold, "Where are you?"

"_Right next to the Marketplace. I'll send you the coordinates."_

"I'll be there in five."

"_Thanks, boss. Park around that abandoned building to your right when you get here. They won't be able to see you."_

He got there in three minutes and pulled his car around the building like Zara had instructed. When he got out he saw her waving him over from a vantage point on the adjacent one. He crept over to her and crouched behind cover. He let his eyes skim over the ledge to see the men below.

There were four, just like she'd said. Zara nodded her head beside him.

"The one with the dark hair, that's Adamus," she said.

Garrus slid his gaze over at her. Her smile was sharp and disarming. Her eyes like pale fire in her head.

"How do you want to play this?" he asked.

"I'll go down and rough them up. You stay up here and cover my ass if there's any movement."

"Got it."

She pressed her hands against the ledge and lifted herself up. Her body started to glow blue.

"Ready?" she asked, her grin white in the blue swirl.

"Let's do this," he said, setting up his rifle and pressing at the side of his visor.

Music started to flow into his earpiece as he lined up his shot. He expected Zara to leave his side but she remained for a moment. He looked cautiously over at her to find her smirking at him.

"Is that Fire In The Courtyard?" she asked, obviously holding back a laugh.

His mandibles flexed in embarrassment. He cleared his throat.

"From Fleet and Flotilla? You're kidding," she said, laughing freely then.

Garrus narrowed his eyes back into scope.

"Don't you have some mercenaries to kill, Erash?"

"Hey, I don't judge, it's a great movie," she laughed, "Great soundtrack, too. Can you put it into my earpiece?"

Garrus chuckled. He was always laughing around her. It felt strange, but not necessarily wrong. It was a cleansing sensation in his chest. He reached up and hit his visor again, transferring the music to their communication channel.

"Nice," she said, touching at her ear and then giving him the thumbs up.

She started to hum along and the sound followed her as she floated up above the ledge and down towards the floors below. Garrus leveled one eye on her to make sure she made it down safely. Biotic energy pulsed around her in dark blue ribbons. She crouched down behind a crate. Her voice came softly over the music playing in both of their ears.

"_How am I looking?" _she asked.

"Great," he responded on reflex, before realizing she was probably asking if she'd been detected and not how good she looked in her armor, "I mean…good, you're good. They didn't see you."

She laughed in his ear, though the sound was sweet rather than harsh.

"_Have you ever sweet talked anyone in your life?"_

He said nothing, his talons flexing around his rifle.

"_On second thought, don't answer that."_

She saved him from having to answer and then before he could even think up some retort she charged from behind the crates onto the one in the center of the four men. He could hear her from where he crouched.

"Hello boys."

The dark haired man she'd described as Adamus whirled and raised his pistol. Garrus aimed at his skull.

"Christ, _Zara?_"

"Good to see you again, Addy," she said, her mouth full of acid.

"I thought you were dead, they had everyone out looking for you."

He sounded nervous. Good. Zara liked them nervous. So did Garrus, for that matter.

"They weren't looking very hard, apparently," she said.

Adamus raised his pistol a little higher, "What do you want?"

"You dead."

She struck her fist upwards, drowning Adamus in biotic energy. She lifted him up high in the air before he could get a shot off and then threw him backwards. Garrus raised his head to watch the back of his skull explode against the crate his body broke against.

Shots started to pop back where Zara stood. Garrus turned his rifle back to her and watched her work through the scope. Her voice came through his earpiece.

"_Turn it up, boss."_

He smirked and obliged. The song started to thunder in his head. The drums followed Zara's motions as she rained an assault upon the remaining three men. Crates crashed, bones snapped, biotic pulses shook the floors.

And just as Zara had predicted, Eclipse's security started to filter from the shadows. In time with the music and Zara's shockwaves, he took them out. Headshots, every last one of them. The two of them made quick work of the group. The scene was quiet in a matter of minutes.

Garrus clambered down from the ladder by the ledge to the floor where Zara stood in the midst of the corpses. It was an eerily similar position to the one he'd first met her in. She was panting softly when he approached her and slung his rifle back over his shoulder.

"Phew," she grinned at him, "That felt _good_."

Garrus nodded, "Yeah, it did."

She wiped her hand across her brow and then rolled her right shoulder. Her armor clacked together. Then, she smiled at him. And it was that same smile she always smiled at him, the one that unraveled him in ways that he had yet to understand.

"I could use a drink," she said and he felt her eyes fanning over his dark visor, "Come on, I'm buying."

Garrus hesitated. He was wary of bars in general, but even warier of more one on one time with Zara. He'd already dropped the ball with that comment earlier about how she looked. Alcohol and close quarters weren't going to help him redeem himself.

"I don't know," he said slowly.

But Zara wasn't taking no for an answer. She grabbed a hold of his elbow.

"This place is quiet, you'll like it."

He allowed himself to be led with no further arguments. There were worse things he could be forced into doing. Having a drink with a beautiful woman after a night dealing justice was a luxury he deserved. A luxury he'd earned.

So why was he so nervous.


	9. Reality

**Reality**

It was a nice place, he had to admit. The music wasn't too loud and the crowd wasn't entirely slimy. It was the kind of bar you could go to in full armor and not be judged and yet didn't have to worry about using you gun at any point during the night either.

He and Zara had picked seats at the counter. She sat with her body slightly angled towards him and he did the same without even realizing it. The bartender placed two beers on the counter in front of them. Zara took a long pull of hers before speaking.

"Thanks for your help with that," she murmured.

"So just how bad was this guy?" he asked her, admiring the lights on the slopes of her lean shoulders.

She shrugged them, light spilling down her arms. "He was lower on the totem pole than I was. Offing him was more of a personal vendetta for all the times he stared at my tits. And a few other misdemeanors in my book."

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Garrus laughed.

Her smile glimmered.

"Don't worry, I like you," she winked at him.

A heat coiled up in his chest. He felt it about to lash out, wanting strike her and tangle up in her blue skin and flashing eyes. His attraction to her was akin to a thermal clip wearing thin. The burn felt just as sweet as if he was in the middle of a firefight.

The metaphor had the potential to be inherently sexual, he realized with sudden alarm, as if she could see inside his head. He took a quick drink to prevent himself from saying something he'd regret.

"But we're supposed to be celebrating, not talking shop," Zara said, crossing her ankles.

Garrus froze. What did normal people talk about? Eighty percent of his time was spent talking shop. The other twenty were split between killing mercenaries and sleeping. He drummed his talons on the counter.

"I…uh…like the music they play here," he said.

No one could say he wasn't trying.

"Yeah, they do a nice job," Zara replied.

He watched her run a finger on the rim of her beer. Words failed him. He couldn't think of a damn thing to say. And for the first time, it seemed Zara couldn't either. The two of them sat in silence for another minute.

Just when it was about to become unbearable, Zara laughed.

"Goddess, we're bad at this," she said and finished off her beer.

Garrus followed suit and wiped at his chin, "I think I've forgotten how to have a normal conversation."

"Omega will do that to you," she said, signaling the bartender for another round with two fingers.

She turned back to him, her gaze soft. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the way her laughter unraveled him, but he already felt a little more relaxed.

"Okay, let's keep it simple," Zara started, "What's your favorite color?"

Two more beers were set down in front of them and Garrus looked at her for a moment before grabbing his.

"We're really doing this?" he asked, amused.

"Humor me. I've been on your team for a month and I still don't know anything interesting about you other than you like Fleet and Flotilla.".

Garrus rolled his shoulders back and sighed.

"Fine, fine," he took a sip of his beer before answering, "Blue. What's yours?"

Zara didn't miss a beat, "Red. Okay, now you get to ask me."

Damn. He wasn't good at this. He could think on his feet in a firefight sure, but in a social context? It was like he just got dropped into a hot zone without any equipment. He scratched at the back of his neck and winced.

"Favorite shade of your favorite color?" he asked.

Zara gave him a dry look.

"You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?" he sighed.

"Never," she smiled in return before feigning a straight face, "Now ask again. And make it more exciting."

Garrus stared at the label on his beer for a long while. He was making this a lot harder than it had to be, he knew that. But talking on this level with anyone, let alone Zara, had never been his forte. Though, if he thought about it, this was his chance to stir that warm feeling in his chest he got around her. That heat that wanted to know more about her, that _wanted_ to ask her questions and find the reasons behind all those smiles, low murmurs and indomitable power.

"You have family?" he asked all of a sudden, surprising even himself.

Zara smiled, a wordless approval of his choice, before answering. "My mom lives on Thessia, I haven't seen her in a long time. We kind of had a falling out. I was young and thought I knew the galaxy better than she did, she tried to rope me in, didn't end well. Never met my dad, heard he was a krogan though."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Garrus said, before adding quickly, "The krogan father part. Sorry to hear about you and your mother, though."

Zara waved him off, "Asari live a long time. If this little vigilante crusade doesn't kill me, I'm sure I'll run into her again eventually."

He watched her take another drink of her beer. Zara had this way of making everything look equally graceful and raw. Like she could be on a commercial for whatever the hell it was she was drinking and then turn around and smash the glass into someone's face and look just as beautiful in both scenarios.

"What about you?" she broke him from his thoughts.

He hadn't talked about his family to anyone in a long time. There was no one really to tell. And no one he wanted to admit his failures to. But the alcohol and Zara's eyes so vivid they were practically burning his truths onto his skin made it impossible for him to keep quiet.

"Well, my dad was a C-Sec man. We…we didn't see eye to eye," he hardened his gaze on the counter, "My mom, she's on Palaven. Pretty sick. And I've got a sister who's taking care of her. Solana."

Zara seemed to sense the change in him. Her brow furrowed.

"It must be hard being away from them," she said gently.

He nodded.

"Yeah, I've let them down a lot over the past few years," he laughed bitterly, "Haven't even gotten the guts to talk to any of them recently."

He felt cool fingers on the top of his hand. Zara met his eyes, her hand resting on his as she spoke.

"They're your family," she reassured him, "It's never too late."

His mandibles flexed. He stared down at her hand, her delicate blue fingers, her cool touch.

"You're right," he said and then nodded a few more times, "You're right. Thanks."

Her hand slipped away from his, but the feeling didn't. He was burning right through his hardsuit, as if her touch had woken fire beneath the dark armor.

"Sorry, didn't mean to dampen the mood," he chuckled then, drinking again to further cool the nerves sparking inside him.

"You didn't," she said shaking her head, "It was…nice. Stuff like that makes me remember you're real."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that. No one had ever held him in such high regard like that before in his life. He was used to being run over and shut down. Now to the people of Omega he was this _symbol_ of hope and justice. Archangel. Someone they put up on a pedestal and prayed for him to save them. Sometimes he felt as though he was detached entirely from the persona. That even he sometimes forgot that Archangel was really him under the armor and behind the rifle.

"Okay, what's one thing you've always wanted to do but couldn't?" Zara quick fired another question at him.

Oh, that one was easy. Quick enough to even give her a run for her money, he leaned back in his chair and said, "Shoot rounds off the top of the Presidium on the Citadel."

Zara sputtered a laugh. Spirits, he loved that sound.

"You're kidding!"

"I kid you not."

"That's great," she said, her laughter subsiding into sighs.

"And you?" he asked.

Zara sighed and spun her beer bottle around on the rounded edge. She looked pensive. Troubled, almost, if it wasn't for the cynic playfulness to her mouth when she finally answered.

"Make something of my life," she snorted.

She caught his concerned gaze and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not talking like some desk job or having some cute little family –I just want to feel like I accomplished something, that I did something _good_ for once in my life," she said and rested her chin on her palm while looking at him.

It was an admirable desire, he'd give her that. He shifted until he was facing her fully.

"How will you know when you've done it?" he asked.

She smiled, and for the first time he saw hope in her face, "I think I'll just know."

It was a good look on her, he concluded.

The two of them finished two more beers each and questioned each other on everything imaginable. Favorite places, favorite foods, what they'd last dreamt about, favorite guns, dream vacations, dream professions. And yet by the time they walked out of the bar Garrus felt like he'd only scratched the surface of Zara Erash.

Which he didn't particularly mind. He was happy to keep learning about her. And he'd continue to try and figure her out for as long as it took to scratch at that itch he kept buried deep inside his heart.

A sensation that warned him as fiercely as it tempted him.


	10. Nameless

**Nameless**

**ZARA: FOUR MONTHS EARLIER**

She didn't know what she was doing. It was easier not to think, just _do_. Allow her heart to take over, flood her body with righteous blood that she'd never felt the sting of before. If she could blame it on her heart, it was easier. The heart was fickle. The heart lied and tricked and stole. Her brain however, was a finely tuned machine.

She prided herself on being logical above all else. In her line of work, it was essential not to let your emotions rule you. There was too much unsavory work that _someone_ had to get done regardless, and turning yourself off was much easier than dealing with the repercussions.

And she was usually very _good_ at keeping her emotions in check. So she could forgive herself for a brief lapse in control, right? It wasn't like this happened often. Zara rarely let her heart decide anything. And she _never _let it make her disobey a direct order.

But here she was, letting it drive the skycar with her and the little boy to the wrong shipping port. About forty miles away from the one she was supposed to be dropping the kid off at.

Zara knew Omega like the back of her hand. She knew were all the Eclipse dealers worked out of, who had ties to what gang and where you could get the most money for a smuggling operation. But in knowing that, she also knew the loopholes. And Omega was full of them. She knew the places where the gangs didn't have any eyes or ears.

This port happened to be one of them.

The people who worked out of this back ass dock didn't give a varren's ass about who ran crime in Omega. They didn't answer to anyone but Aria when they made deals here. They were usually there one day, gone the next. Omega was just one of many stops on their travel routes.

It was the perfect place to sneak someone off-world completely undetected. Even Eclipse, who had eyes on almost every ship coming in and out of the station.

"Okay, listen up," she said as she parked the car.

The little boy looked over at her with eager, shining eyes. She made her face hard. She could not be his friend here. It would make it harder.

"You need to do exactly what I say all right?"

The boy nodded. She sighed, smoothed her hands on the thigh plates of her armor, and popped the roof of the skycar.

She climbed out and went around the other side to retrieve the kid. They stood hand in hand in the center of the bustling port. Zara looked freakishly out of place, she noted. She should have at the very least changed her armor.

But there was no time to think about that now. She had to do this quick before anyone stopped long enough to look.

With the boy's tiny hand clasped in her own, she walked into the hub of traffic. Years of experience had taught her to pick out what ships were going where and for what purpose. The big ones were carrying heavy cargo. Weapons, explosives, stuff like that. The smaller ones could be anything from drugs, to food to medicine. Those were her best bet if she wanted this kid safe.

They walked down the strip for a few minutes before she found an older human man loading a crate of food onto a lift. He wiped his brow and jostled the box up a level. He looked like a colonist –the clothes, the bedraggled looking ship, the sun weathered lines of his face. He looked decent enough. She didn't smell the stain of Omega on him yet.

He jumped when he saw her.

"I don't mean no trouble," he glumped.

"Neither do I," Zara said, pulling up her omni-tool, "Where are you headed?"

"Uke Mochi," the man said guardedly.

Perfect. A nice human colony, they'd take care of him.

"I'll pay you six thousand credits to take this boy with you," Zara said.

The words felt hot in her mouth. Her heart slammed in her chest.

The man blinked at her, "Why? What's the catch, lady?"

"Look, I don't have time to explain. There's no catch. Just take him somewhere safe and find him a home or something," she said, on the verge of pleading.

She squeezed the little boys hand quite on accident, and only realized it when she found him squeezing back. Her eyes fell on him. Big cheeks, pretty eyes, a pink smile. This was the right thing to do. If she got her ass chewed out for it, fine. She'd at least be able to sleep at night.

"Six thousand, you say?" the man asked, thumbing at his chin.

"I'll make it eight if you give me your word you'll keep him safe," Zara said, her omni-tool pinging.

"Done," the man said, squatting down to eye-level with the boy, "What's his name?"

Zara paused. She'd been ready to sell this child into servitude and she didn't even know his name. Somewhere he had a family. A mom who had taken care of him, a father, maybe sisters and brothers. Someone who had given him a name. Who had dressed him and fed him. Someone who loved him.

"I…don't know," she said, almost too quiet over the roar of the shipping port.

The man frowned and looked up at her. If he had more questions, he refrained from asking. He merely unlatched the little boys hand from her own and then lifted him up on his hip. The kid made a soft whining sound and reached out an arm to her. Zara locked her jaw. Locked her heart.

"He'll be safe," the man promised.

And his suspicions seemed to subside. Zara wondered if he could see what she was trying so hard to conceal.

"Thank you," she said in a thick voice.

She transferred the credits and then turned, hoping to bleed back into the crowd and avoid any further attention. She heard the little, nameless boy calling out after her. A babble of half-formed words and sad sounds. She shouldered through the crush of people, wishing she couldn't hear anything at all.

When she returned to her skycar she closed herself inside and shut her eyes. A slow exhale deflated her lungs.

"Fuck."

She thought it would be easy to turn her heart off after it was all over. But even has she took to the clogged skies of the city she couldn't help thinking about the kid. Wondering if she'd picked the right ship, if they'd find him a home, or a family. Goddess, when did she turn into such a sap?

She turned on the music, hoping to flush out the memory of the little boy.

It worked after a few minutes.

And after that, she turned it up even louder, hoping to flush out the memory of every one before him she hadn't had the guts to save.


	11. Loyalty

**Loyalty**

**ZARA: FOUR MONTHS EARLIER**

"_Jaroth wants to see you." _

Zara flinched. Adamus had an annoying voice as it was. Coming through the speakers of her skycar it was practically unbearable. And the implications of the call weren't any sweeter. Jaroth usually didn't make it a point to check in with grunts like her. If the job had been done right, someone would let him know. He kept on the outskirts of shit like this.

"Why?" she asked on reflex, turning the car on a dime and heading back the opposite direction.

"_You think I asked? I'm not stupid."_

"Could have fooled me," Zara muttered before punching the button on the dash to cut their line of communication.

The silence that followed was anything but blissful. It quickly filled up with her doubts. She tried to reassure herself against the steady ebb of traffic. Jaroth couldn't know what she'd done. Eclipse didn't have eyes at that port.

But the closer she got to the home base, the less she was able to kid herself. Someone had to have seen. Jaroth wouldn't ask for her personally just to give her a pat on the back. Her stomach turned into knots. A bead of sweat rolled down her spine under her hardsuit. She flexed her blue fingers over the controls of the car and forced herself to take a few long breaths.

He couldn't prove anything.

Could he?

When she arrived at Eclipse headquarters, a shabby, innocuous looking warehouse on the edge of the station, she was ushered in by two door guards. She heard a frightened whimper before she saw anything. The sound alone was enough to make her blood run cold.

"Erash."

Jaroth's clipped voice met her head on. He stepped out of the shadows with his arms folded. Zara snapped to attention, clasping her hands behind her back and lifting her chin.

"Sir," she nodded.

Jaroth nodded to the guards behind her. One of them hit a switch on the side of the door and made the lights come on. The hot white brightness of the room made her balk for a moment. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes as the warehouse became visible. And to her horror, so did five children standing shoulder to shoulder by a storage crate on the far wall.

_The rest of the cargo_, she realized.

"Now, if you're honest with me, this will go a lot smoother for you," Jaroth explained, starting to pace in front of her, "Our first pick up never made it to the intended buyer, did it?"

He knew. Of course he knew. She'd been so fucking _stupid_ to think she could pull of a stunt like this. Jaroth had eyes everywhere. The very gutters of Omega were lined with pairs of them, waiting to report back to the man in charge of all of their blinking. Zara swallowed.

"No, sir," she said, staring straight ahead.

"You know, I really hate it when my people think they can invent their own rules," Jaroth sighed, "It's impossible to run a business when everyone thinks they can do _whatever the fuck they want!"_

He screamed the last few words. They stung her as if he'd slapped her. One of the smaller girls by the wall started to cry.

"Not only did you disobey a direct order, but you've made a _very _important deal fall through," Jaroth explained and then pointed a finger back at the children.

Zara followed his gaze. Goddess, they were all so small. Little pink things with rosy cheeks and liquid eyes. The oldest one didn't even have all of his teeth. A fact she only noted once he opened his mouth and started to wail.

"Our buyer _specifically_ said all or nothing," Jaroth hissed, "You know what that means, Erash?"

Zara clenched her jaw, "No, sir."

"It means all of them are _worthless_ now. Even worse? They're all liabilities."

Jaroth waved his hand over his head. Zara turned her head over her shoulder and noticed for the first time there were a crowd of fellow members gathering by the door. One of the door guards came forward at Jaroth's beckoning. Something in his eyes made Zara's knees weak.

"Now, normally I wouldn't be this extreme, but unfortunately I'm going to have to make an example out of you," Jaroth explained.

The guard approached the children and then stood still. Jaroth distanced himself and came to stand at Zara's side. She felt her revulsion as if it were a tangible fog rippling over her skin. She could reach out and land a singularity right in his fucking head. But she clenched her fists at her side, immobile out of some misguided loyalty she'd never understood.

"If I let you off the hook, then everyone would think it's okay to make things up as they go, and we can't have that," Jaroth continued.

The guard turned and Jaroth gave him a slight nod. Zara saw the wink of a pistol.

"_No!"_ she found herself saying.

Something hit her across the back of the head. Zara hit the ground on her knees and Jaroth held her down by the neck. She felt the cold press of his gun at her temple.

"I want you to watch this," he murmured in her ear, "And _remember_."

Zara struggled for a moment and then fell still. Horror fused her limbs until she was slack against Jaroth's grip. She watched the guard raise his pistol and aim at the first child's head of blonde curls. Zara's breath started to heave in and out through her nostrils.

_Please, it was my fault, not theirs. Kill me. _But her words were lost, her tongue thick in her mouth. A shot rang out and a long, young scream echoed after it. Four more shots followed it. And she watched every single one.

When it was over Jaroth released her. He might have said something to her, but she didn't hear. She didn't hear anything but those five gunshots, over and over and over again. She stayed in that cool, damp section of the warehouse long after everyone else had left. And only when the shadows took the bodies and she was truly alone did she let herself cry.

Loud, hollow sounds broke her in half again and again until she could cry no more. The tears gave way to anger, and somewhere in the middle of the night she rose from the floor.

She rose with darkness boiling in her veins and fire burning out the whites in her eyes. She rose promising to avenge those she'd failed and kill those she'd followed without question. She rose a new woman. A new woman with a new soul. A soul that beamed with darkness and scoured of all false loyalties.

Zara said a prayer over each body and then disappeared into the depths of the city that had taken them from her.


End file.
